Defense Minister Ehud Barak and IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant-General Gabi Ashkenazi took part Tuesday in a ceremony honoring employers who show proper appreciation for the reservist soldiers on their staff.
This was the third annual ceremony in which “Reservists' Defender” shields were awarded to selected employers. Criteria for receiving the award include:
- special attention and appreciation shown to reservists who work in the organization
- organizational support for reservist employees and awareness of the importance of their military tasks
- mechanisms that protect the reservists from being harmed, over time, by the fact that they go on reserve stints
Winners for 2010 include Ex Libris, Denia Sibus Construction, Tower Semiconductors and Assaf HaRofeh Hospital.
Also attending the ceremony were MK Miri Regev (Likud); Chairman of the Public Committee for the Reserve Array, Yaakov Peri, and Industrialists' Federation chief Shraga Brosh. Peri, a former chief of the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet), also chaired the judges' panel for the awards.
Heightened awareness of the reservists' role in the IDF and in Israeli life has been a hallmark of Chief of Staff Ashkenazi's term.
Most Israeli men serve in the military for at least three years, and then join the ranks of the reserve army, where they remain until age 40 or thereabouts. They are called up for service annually, for stints that vary in length. It is not uncommon for reserve officers to be called up for periods totaling eight, 10 or even 12 weeks every year. It is illegal to fire an employee for his absence on reserve duty.